Pacific Wren

The Pacific Wren is a secretive and elusive songbird that you can hear singing throughout the western forests of North America. They are known for their complex songs and piercing calls, often fascinating researchers when they hear them. You can hear a Pacific Wren before you see them. When observers follow their calls to the source, you can see these Wrens emerge from dark evergreen forests. They move swiftly and rapidly throughout the forest understory, hopping with agility as they go past logs and upturned roots.

About Pacific Wrens

These birds have dramatic gestures as they sing. They shake their whole body and hold their tail upright as they let out complex notes. For the longest time, these birds were considered to be the same species as Winter Wrens, until researchers in 2010 split Winter Wrens into three species. Pacific Wrens are the primary wrens of the west, while Winter Wrens now occupies the eastern half of North America. There are a number of ways to identify Pacific Wrens. Today, we will be teaching you how to do exactly just that. We will be learning about:

● Pacific Wren Photos, Color Pattern, Song
● Pacific Wren Size, Eating Behavior, Habitat
● Pacific Wren Range and Migration, Nesting

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Pacific Wren Color Pattern

Small and inconspicuous, these Wrens are fairly uniform in color. Their plumages are mainly dark to medium brown, becoming paler on the supercilium, chin, and throat. They have dark bars on their wings, tail, and on underparts below the breast. Adults of both sexes are inseparable in appearance. There are no seasonal changes in their plumages. However, differences in geography may result in regional variations in size and color. For instance, Pacific Wrens you find on the lower coasts of Alaska are paler and larger than those in the other parts of their range.

Juveniles are covered with very little down when they first hatch, with a brown coating on their lower feather tracts. As they grow, they resemble adults. However, they have a browner back, rump, upper-tail coverts without dusky and whitish bars, and darker underparts. Their feathers are lined with dusky hues, and the bars on flanks are loosely textured and less distinct.

Description and Identification

Pacific Wrens are hard to spot with just the naked eye. Their calls are their most notable feature, so keep your ear out for a rapid series of tumbling and trilling notes from the forest. Once you hear it, trace it and watch out for mouselike movements along decaying logs. During the breeding seasons, they perch in the open in the early mornings and shake their bodies with the songs they sing.

They are frequently confused with the closely related Winter Wren, but are more rufous and have a richer color. While having fewer patterns than their cousins. While Pacific Wrens and Winter Wrens are nearly identical to each other in shape and size, they are smaller than all other Wrens.

Pacific Wren Song

The song of the Pacific Wren is known as the “pinnacle of song complexity”. They seem to use their entire bodies to sing. These small birds have a large repertoire of several different notes to make different arrangements. The most distinct call is a 5 to 10 second long series of notes upon the note. Unlike the sweeter quality of Winter Wrens, these birds have a harsher quality to their voices. Males make these calls. They are the loudest during the breeding seasons when they are on display for females. They make calls while fending off threats or when they approach the nest, the calls they let out are lower in volume and are much softer. Their calls can sound like “churp, chick, crrrrip, trip, tree or chrrr”, with rising tones as it continues.

Pacific Wren Size

Pacific Wrens are some of the smallest Wrens in the U.S. at a length of just 3.1-4.7 inches. They have a stout appearance, a short and stubby tail, and an upright stance. Their short wings have a wingspan of 4.7-6.3 inches, while their weight is around 0.3-0.4 ounces. Because of their small size and short tail, they seem round in appearance. Their bills are medium-sized and thin. If compared to other species, they are larger than Rufous Hummingbirds but are smaller than Chestnut-backed Chickadees.

Pacific Wren Behavior

Pacific Wrens move in short, quick hops throughout the forest understory. They use both their wings and legs while moving around. They use a combination of both body parts to flutter and navigate through the densely vegetated understories. These movements can often give them a mouselike appearance as they appear to scurry rapidly through the undergrowth. Individuals maintain regular routes, generally choosing to travel along the margin of fallen trees. Sometimes, they may also hop between logs.

These birds have no aversion to dark, enclosed places as they search for prey. Sometimes they move out of the small space backward in order to catch prey. They also fly short distances with rapid wing beats. Their longest daily flights are generally over streams or large logs above the vegetation. Similar to Brown Creepers, they may also cling on to the trunk of a tree.

During the breeding seasons, males enthusiastically advertise their locations by singing and fluttering their wings and cocking their tail from side to side. If a female has interest in them, they approach to begin the courtship ritual. Courtship consists of males leading the females around their territories and showing them several nests they have made. The females then make the final selection of which nest to use before mating occurs. These birds maintain their territories throughout the year and remain solitary or paired with their mates. They choose to stay away from mixed flocks of other species.

Pacific Wren Diet

These birds are insectivores, with their primary diet revolving around insects. Their diet is diverse and includes prey like beetles, caterpillars, ants, mites, ticks, millipedes, snails, flies, bees, and anthropods like spiders. They locate their prey by hopping slowly on the ground while investigating crevices, decaying wood, and upturned roots. During the colder months, they may feed on juniper berries or other types of berries if insect populations are scarce.

Pacific Wren Habitat

These birds gravitate towards densely forested habitats throughout western Canada and United States, ranging anywhere from sea level to 12,000 feet high. They seem to prefer old-growth evergreen forests the most, but also live in deciduous forests, mixed evergreen and deciduous forests, and aspen stands. In order to forage comfortably, they need areas with a thick vegetation cover of various mosses and ferns at the understory. Although they typically stay in their territories throughout the year, colder months may make some wrens move to lower elevations. In such cases, they use a variety of habitats that include scrub oak, pinyon-juniper forests, and sometimes even urban parks and gardens. Some birds in the Alaskan part of their range favor open habitats to breed in when compared to birds in the other parts of their range, but they also move towards dense woodlands during the winter.

Range and Migration

Pacific Wrens breed along the Pacific coast from Alaska to California, with their inland range going in as far as Wyoming and the Black Hills of South Dakota. Short to medium-distant migrants in those regions travel across the west of the United States and Canada during the winters, typically opting for lower elevations. Birds that breed in Canada are the ones most likely to migrate during the winters. Other populations along the coasts are permanent residents of their habitats and do not migrate.

Pacific Wren Lifecycle

After mating, females lay about 4-7 whitish eggs. Females generally have only one brood in a year, but on rare occasions may have two. Incubation is done only by the female for around 14-17 days. When the eggs hatch, the chicks emerge in a relatively helpless state. They are naked except for a few straggly feathers and are fed for almost three weeks afterward. Both parents feed their young. The younglings generally leave their nest about 16-18 days after hatching. It is unclear when Pacific Wrens achieve complete independence.

Nesting

During the breeding seasons, males build multiple potential nests in their territory for the courtship ritual. They may build the nests near streams in roots of upturned trees, under creek banks, in decaying logs, in hanging moss, or in dead trees. After courtship, females make the final selection of the nest site before they start laying eggs. The height of the nest can range anywhere from ground level to 23 feet above the ground.

Males contruct the nests. They build a foundation of twigs before weaving an outer cup out of moss, bark, rootlets, grass, more twigs, and other available plant material. They tend to source materials that are close to the site in order to improve the overall camouflage. The nest is lined by both the male and the female, primarily with feathers and animal hair. The resulting nest can vary greatly in size among Pacific Wrens, sometimes being the size of a football.

Anatomy of a Pacific Wren

Pacific Wrens are small, plump birds with a short and thin tail that is often held up. Their stance is upright, and their tiny sizes give them a round appearance. Their wings are short and are sufficient in helping them fly short distances over obstacles as they scurry through the forest understory. These birds are a rich brown color with darker brownish barring all over their wings, tail, and belly. Their faces are also a light brown that is marked with a pale mark over the eyebrow. When they sing, they do so with their whole body, emulating a voice that is far louder than most birds of their size.

Final Thoughts

Pacific Wrens are delightful to witness. Although their populations have been negatively impacted in the last few decades, their numbers have begun to stabilize once more. Their conservation status categorizes them under Least Concern, a fortunate fact for this little bird. Although these birds do not travel far from their habitats, it is possible to spot them if you live around their breeding range. They have been known to utilize nest boxes frequently. If you
want to observe one from up close, make sure that you set up your nest box with a predator guard before the breeding season begins to complete.

Filling some of your backyards with native plants and thick vegetation can also be inviting to these songsters, with foraging opportunities a certainty in attracting them. If they settle in your backyard, hearing the songs that they are so famous for will become commonplace while you learn more about these otherwise secretive birds. After all, observing birds is one of the greatest pleasures in life!

Ornithology

Bird Watching Academy & Camp Subscription Boxes

At the Bird Watching Academy & Camp we help kids, youth, and adults get excited and involved in bird watching. We have several monthly subscription boxes that you can subscribe to. Our monthly subscription boxes help kids, youth, and adults learn about birds, bird watching, and bird conservation.

Bird Watching Binoculars for Identifying Pacific Wrens

The most common types of bird watching binoculars for viewing Pacific Wrens are 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. Bird Watching Academy & Camp sells really nice 8×21 binoculars and 10×42 binoculars. You can view and purchase them here.

Pacific Wren Stickers

Stickers are a great way for you to display your love for bird watching and the Pacific Wren. We sell a monthly subscription sticker pack. The sticker packs have 12 bird stickers. These sticker packs will help your kids learn new birds every month.

Bird Feeders For Pacific Wrens

There are many types of bird feeders. Bird feeders are a great addition to your backyard. Bird feeders will increase the chances of attracting birds drastically. Both kids and adults will have a great time watching birds eat at these bird feeders. There are a wide variety of bird feeders on the market and it is important to find the best fit for you and your backyard.

Best Bird Houses For Pacific Wrens

There are many types of bird houses. Building a bird house is always fun but can be frustrating. Getting a bird house for kids to watch birds grow is always fun. If you spend a little extra money on bird houses, it will be well worth every penny and they’ll look great.